許常惠（1929-2001），作曲家、音樂學家。出生於彰化和美。1949年入省立師範學院（今臺灣師範大學）音樂學系就讀，隨戴粹倫習小提琴，隨蕭而化、張錦鴻學理論作曲，1954年至法國深造，領受二十世紀現代音樂狂潮，開始從事音樂史研究、文字書寫與創作。1961年，陸續發起製樂小集、新樂初奏等音樂團體，並舉辦多場發表會，提倡現代音樂創作。1967年，許常惠與史惟亮於全臺灣進行大規模的民歌採集運動，引發全國性的關注，為臺灣民族音樂研究之重大事件。代表作品為《昨自海上來》、《葬花吟》、《獅頭山的孩子》等。2000年，自國立臺灣師範大學音樂學系退休後，仍身兼教育部講座教授、國家文藝基金會董事長、總統府國策顧問，並獲總統頒授二等景星勳章，為當代臺灣最有影響力的音樂家之一。

HSU Tsang-Houei (XU Chang-Hui) was born in Hemei, Changhua in 1929. He went to Japan at the age of 10 and studied violin with Shouta Saburo, which was the beginning of his exposure to Western classical music. After returning to Taiwan, Hsu studied violin with Dai Cui-Lun, and music theory and composition with Xiao Er-Hua and Zhang Jin-Hong. He went to France in 1954 to further his studies. Xia Ye and Yue Li both had a major impact on Hsu’s life, and he started researching Chinese music history because of them. Hsu is often called “the Godfather of Taiwanese music.” He was a vanguard of modern music in Taiwan and also one of the leading proponents of ethnomusicological fieldwork. Hsu is considered to be one of Taiwan’s most influential musicians. He died in Taipei in 2001.